How To Lock Icons On Desktop?

How to lock icons on Desktop? We all know, as a computer user we're forced to reboot or connect with a stranger once in a while, which means that our lock screen will be exposed. So it's better to lock the icons, here are some easy ways.

An inconvenient thing you may have experienced a couple of times while on the desktop would probably be the constant disarrangement of your icons, especially after rebooting, shutting down, or making changes on the memory of your computer.

For most people, especially students, young professionals, and elderly users, this could be a great hassle that can create unnecessary confusion and stress.

Constant disarray can cause a lot of things such as displacement of files and folders, and this makes it even harder to look for what you need.

So, if you’re keen on organization and want to keep everything in place all the time, then don’t worry too much because there is actually a way to keep the icons on your desktop in place.

Lock Icons on Desktop

To do so, you may follow the steps below:

Step 1: Arrange your icons as you prefer.

First of all, before you proceed, you need to make sure that you organize your icons in whatever way and wherever you want them to be permanent. It’s best to keep the most important files accessible and group these files into folders for easier navigation in the future.

Step 2: Select ‘View’ on the Options Tab.

To find the Options tab, right-click anywhere on your desktop screen to make the options tab pop up. Scan through the choices and click on the option ‘View’.

Step 3: Disable Auto Arrange.

The main cause of this constant disarray is because of enabling the ‘Auto Arrange’ mode, so to stop it from doing so, you would want that turned off. To do so, after clicking on View, select ‘Desktop Items’ on the list and deselect the line ‘Auto Arrange.’

Step 4: Align Desktop Icons.

Afterward, you may align and keep the icons on your desktop in their assigned places by clicking on ‘Align to Grid.’

Step 5: Make Further Changes.

In case there is a need for you to make other necessary changes, or if you thought of a better way to arrange your icons, you may click on ‘Show Desktop Items’ to finalize and correct the placements of your icons.

Step 6: Apply.

To finish off, select ‘Apply’ on the menu, and with that, you now have your icons locked in place. You may check to see if it truly works by rebooting your computer right after.

If even after following the steps your computer still insists on rearranging your icons for you, then the cause may be any of the following:

•    There are some programs, especially computer games, that may change the screen resolution when opened causing your desktop to automatically rearrange your icons to fit the new size. To stop it from doing so you may simply stop running that program or try to check the settings if there is something you can adjust on the screen resolution.

•    There is a possibility of a faulty or outdated video card driver. If this is so, do check for updates and install a new version if needed. If this doesn’t do the trick, then try tweaking your video card settings by changing the display mode or screen resolution.

Summary: lock icons on Desktop

• Right-click or control-click on the desktop, and then select Get Info from the contextual menu.
• Scroll down to the bottom of the window and untick the Locked box (if it's ticked).
• Press Command+S to save your changes.
• Repeat steps 1 -3 for any other locked files or folders that you need to modify or move.

Conclusion

If none of these alternative ways work for you, then you may want to check out Icon Shepherd. It is a software that memorizes and keeps track of the arrangement of the icons on your desktop by taking snapshots of every change you make.

This is helpful in case Windows disarranges your icon placement again. With it, you may click on the Icon Shepherd icon and select a saved layout of your original placement. With this, you wouldn’t have too much of a hard time rearranging your icons every single time.